Richard Morant

[julian_craster]

Richard Morant

30 Nov 2011

Telegraph

Richard Morant - Telegraph

Richard Morant, the actor, who has died aged 66, was memorably cast as Flashman in the BBC adaptation of the Thomas Hughes novel Tom Brown's Schooldays (1971); the squalid Camden house he shared with Bruce Robinson when he was a young actor directly inspired the film Withnail and I (1987).

As the dastardly school bully with a penchant for toasting small boys in front of the fire, Morant cut a terrifyingly sadistic figure. Yet with his dark good looks and dandyish Regency costumes, he was also disturbingly attractive. The series won him many young female admirers and his Flashman became the yardstick against which other performances are judged.
Richard Morant
Richard Morant

One of five children, Jonathan Hope Richard Morant was born on October 30 1945 at Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, into a theatrical family. His father was the Shakespearean actor Philip Morant; his uncle and aunt were the actors Bill and Linden Travers; the actress Penelope Wilton was a cousin.

He studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, sharing a chaotic house in Camden with David Dundas, Bruce Robinson and Michael Feast – a venue for riotous parties and the inspiration for some of the material Robinson later incorporated into the cult film Withnail and I.

On graduation, Morant joined the Prospect Theatre and appeared in touring productions of Richard II, Edward II and Twelfth Night. He landed the part of Flashman after taking a small role in Battle of Britain (1969). Later, Ken Russell cast him as Max, Alma Mahler's lover in Mahler (1974), and the following year he was the kindly Dr Dwight Enys in the BBC costume drama Poldark.

Morant appeared in several other BBC serials, including the Walter Scott adaptations Woodstock (1973, as the future Charles II), and The Talisman (1980, as Conrade of Montserrat).

He played Robespierre in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982); Brian Epstein in the television drama John and Yoko (1985); and the bridegroom in The Company of Wolves (1985). Later he played Bunter, Lord Peter Wimsey's valet, in the BBC's productions of Strong Poison, Have His Carcase and Gaudy Night, with Edward Petherbridge as Dorothy Sayers's well-born sleuth. In 1988 he played Theodore Dyke Acland in the television miniseries Jack the Ripper and subsequently made guest appearances in such series as New Tricks and Midsomer Murders.

As well as his acting Morant also ran a highly successful sideline as a dealer in Asian carpets and textiles. In 1975 he set up the Richard Morant Gallery in Notting Hill, which specialises in antique and modern decorative carpets, textiles and embroidery, including pieces of his own design, hand-made in Turkey.

A generous, self-deprecating man with an infectious laugh, Richard Morant had a crisp, cultured voice that was often in demand for voice-overs, radio, and audio books, including several novels by Julian Barnes and Snobs by Julian Fellowes. The actor Robin Ellis recalled that when he (Ellis) remarked that he had not enjoyed recent episodes of Downton Abbey, "Richard replied, laughing heartily, that yes, it was awful, and what was more awful was that he wasn't in it".

Richard Morant married, in 1969, Melissa Fairbanks, the daughter of Douglas Fairbanks Jr, with whom he had a son and a daughter. The marriage was dissolved and he married secondly, in 1982, Valerie Buchanan, with whom he had another son and daughter. His wife and children survive him.

Richard Morant, born October 30 1945, died November 9 2011

[Moor Larkin]

Just re-read thread from the top....... please delete post

[Nick Dando]

From the Guardian

Richard Morant obituary | Television & radio | The Guardian

Nick

Richard Morant obituary
Actor best known as the doctor in Poldark
Anthony Hayward
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 14 December 2011 19.09 GMT



The dark good looks of the actor Richard Morant, who has died of an aneurism aged 66, were familiar to television viewers over several decades. For a while, he was cast in young romantic lead roles before settling down as a character actor.

He found plenty of drama as the dashing doctor Dwight Enys, who commits himself to tending to the poor in the 1970s BBC's serialisation of Winston Graham's Poldark novels.

While Ross Poldark (Robin Ellis) is marrying his servant, Demelza (Angharad Rees), after losing his fiancee to his cousin, the doctor is himself setting pulses racing amid the wilds of 18th-century Cornwall. Although Morant handed over the role to Michael Cadman after just one series (1975-76), his was a memorable portrayal of a character who has an affair with a married actress – resulting in her husband murdering her – and falls for an heiress.

In a retrospective programme, The Cult of Poldark, in 2008, Morant offered his explanation for the drama's continuing popularity. "It's about love, betrayal – the things that hurt us, that give us joy. It evokes strong attachments, strong passion."

Alongside his acting work, Morant showed a head for business when, in the 1970s, he opened a shop in Holland Park, west London, selling Indian fashions and jewellery. He then became a partner in a carpet and rug business, which he eventually took over in 2005, trading under his own name from nearby Notting Hill.

Morant was born in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, into a family of actors. His father, Philip, played John Tregorran in the radio soap The Archers and performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His uncle was Bill Travers and his cousin Penelope Wilton. He attended Hill Place school, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, and – after the family's move to London in 1959 – William Penn school, Dulwich. Like his sisters, Angela and Jane, he trained at Central School of Speech and Drama (1964-66), where he met Melissa Fairbanks, daughter of Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

By the time they married in 1969, Morant was touring with the Prospect Theatre Company. He played the Earl of Salisbury in Richard II on a national tour in 1968 and then combined that with the role of the Earl of Leicester in Edward II on another tour (1969-70) that included runs at the Mermaid theatre (1969) and the Piccadilly theatre (1970). The BBC recorded both productions.

Morant then had his breakthrough on the small screen, playing Flashman in a 1971 adaptation of Tom Brown's Schooldays. He remained busy on television, with notable roles as the future Charles II in Sir Walter Scott's English civil war drama Woodstock (1973); Conrade of Montserrat in the same author's Richard the Lionheart saga The Talisman (1981); Robespierre in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982); Jamieson, the boyfriend of Stephanie Beacham's title character, in the fashion-world drama Connie (1985); Captain Oates in The Last Place on Earth (1985) and the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, in John and Yoko: A Love Story (1985). His last acting role on television was in the unsolved-crimes drama New Tricks in 2010.

Morant's first marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by his second wife, the actor Valerie Buchanan, whom he married in 1982, and the two children from each of his marriages, Joseph and Crystal, and Jake and Tama.

• Richard Lindon Harvey Morant, actor, born 30 October 1945; died 9 November 2011